Market Conditions Tighten in Many Surrounding Area

The floods in southern Alberta will have an impact on the total towns sales and activity figures in the next quarter and beyond. Before it was devastated by the high waters, High River accounted for nearly seven per cent of the sales and listings activity represented in the surrounding area figures.

This quarterly report captures mostly pre-flood activity. As the extent and repercussions of the damage become clearer, an assessment of the impact on surrounding area statistics will be provided.

The flood’s impact on the High River housing sectors is likely to be more extreme than in some of the inner city communities of Calgary, given the widespread impact on the town’s residential and business community. It is reasonable to assume this event will have long-term impacts on the community unless significant changes are made to address future flooding risk.

After the first half of the year, sales activity in surrounding towns recorded a 4.6 per cent increase, and the number of listings declined by seven per cent. While the overall trends are unaffected by the exclusion of High River figures, it is evident that the devastation in the community has halted sales and listings activity, resulting in downward pressure on both sales and listings.

While not all towns follow the same pricing trends, on aggregate the surrounding areas have been recording year-over-year price gains in excess of six per cent. This in part is a result of the tighter supply levels in the city market spilling over into the surrounding areas. However, many of these surrounding communities are still in price recovery. Despite tight supplies in the resale market, prices are not expected grow faster because there is competition for buyers in the new home sector.